The present invention relates to a divided electrical connector.
FIG. 10 of this specification shows a divided connector provided with a sub connector housing 101 capable of housing terminal fittings and a frame 102 capable of housing the sub connector housing 101. Locking members 103 and lock receiving members 104, these being capable of mutually engaging, are formed on the sub connector housing 101 and the frame 102 respectively. The engagement of the members 103 and 104 prevents the two members 101 and 102 from being separated. The locking members 103 formed on the sub connector housing 101 are capable of bending resiliently in a direction perpendicular to the fitting direction of the sub connector housing 101 and the frame 102. The lock receiving members 104 of the frame 102 receive ends of the locking members 103.
In the divided connector described above, the locked state of the locking members 103 and the lock receiving members 104 is checked by either of the following methods:
(1) after the sub connector housing 101 has been housed within the frame 102, the operator pulls these two in a direction of separation; or (2) the operator checks the extent to which the locking members 103 bend away resiliently from the direction in which electric wires extend, these electric wires being joined to the terminal fittings housed within the sub connector housing 101.
In method (1), different operators, or the same operator, may apply differing pulling forces. Consequently, it is difficult to avoid obtaining disparate results. Method (2) is also problematic, since the electric wires interfere with the checking operation. The present invention has taken the above problem into consideration, and aims to present a divided connector wherein, after a sub connector housing has been housed within a frame, the locked state of these two can be checked easily.
According to the invention there is provided an electrical connector assembly comprising a sub connector adapted to house terminal fittings of wires, and a peripheral frame therefor, the sub connector being insertable in said frame in a fitting direction, and the frame having internal resilient latching members adapted for bending in a direction substantially perpendicular to said fitting direction into corresponding bending spaces, the latching members being for engagement with receiving members of said sub connector to retain the frame and sub connector in a predetermined position, wherein said assembly defines an exit direction for said wires, characterized in that said bending spaces are open to the exterior in a direction other than said exit direction, the bending spaces being adapted to receive a probe for detecting if a latching member is in a respective bending space or not.
Such an arrangement permits the presence of the latching member to be determined according to the depth of probe insertion, and furthermore that the terminal wires do not obstruct probe movement.
Preferably the probe is guided in a channel formed in the receiving members of the sub connector, and furthermore the receiving members preferably include ramp faces to guide a probe to the respective channel.